How PayasUgym Became The UK’s Largest Fitness Network

Launched in 2010, British entrepreneurs Jamie Ward and Neil Harmsworth came up with the initial PayasUgym concept while training for The Solent Swim, an open water swimming event.

Unable to find a gym or pool where they could train on a one-off or temporary basis, they spotted an obvious gap in the UK market and set out to fill it.

Now, with 400,000 registered users, over 2,500 gyms and 30,000 fitness classes, PayasUgym is the largest fitness network in the UK, giving customers the choice and flexibility of where and when they work out.

The London-based founders say their aim with PayasUgym is to give people access to any type of fitness they want, on a flexible basis that suits them.

Offering single-use gym passes, bundles of passes and contract-free memberships at discounted prices, PayasUgym is adding approximately 100 new gyms to its portfolio, every month.

The company, which has a significant web presence, launched an app in 2015, making the platform accessible to even more consumers, and with almost half of the fitness clubs in the UK already signed up, PayasUgym has made a major impact on an industry that was once resistant to change.

From having a clear vision to living and breathing your product, PayasUgym founders Jamie Ward and Neil Harmsworth give their top five tips on how to launch a successful online platform for the fitness sector.

1. Deliver measurable value to your clients.

As a market place we have two clients – our customers and our fitness venues. Critical to our success is making sure we add tangible value to both parties at all time. For every initiative we do we look at the value for both parties, and if all sides don’t win then we don’t do it.

2. Prioritise thoroughly.

Have an effective process in place to prioritise new ideas aligned to your business objectives. Our objectives do change so it’s important we have a quick process to prioritise what we’re focusing on in the business. Never have more than 2 months of project work approved at any time and be prepared to kill initiatives that are not delivering on the current objectives.

3. Test and learn relentlessly.

There’s no better way to assess if an idea is any good other than testing it with your customers. The key is not the test, the key is learning quickly and eventually getting to the right answer. The quicker you test, the quicker you’ll get to the right answer. We work with about 5 different testing techniques.

4. Have a vision.

Make sure your team and everyone you employ helps build, understand and buy into that vision. It creates an innovative culture when everyone has one eye on the vision whilst coming up with the ideas for today.

5. Use your own product.

Sounds obvious and if you run a business it’s likely you live and breathe that business and its products, however it’s important to take time each week to use your product in the real world (not in a testing environment world). This is the only way can you truly understand what your customer experience really is.